Sword Art Online : The Art of Online
by azmontague
Summary: SAO is a game. Indeed, A game. But a game of death. A game built of thousands of swords and stones.Each swords are the humans who once walked over the world of Aincrad, and each stone is an obstacle to them. Slice them clean or be broken. Shatter them to pieces or be shattered. Or be one and slice all of them to a thousand pieces of rubble. One sword will not last long enough.
1. Chapter 1

SAO

A dome. A Flying Building. A floating Castle. Or anything you can use to describe.

The man with the surname Kayaba had done it, and he'd done it without breaking much of a sweat himself. Of course, such man was both to be feared and admired, wasn't it? Built a hundred floor, created textures, voiced sounds, meshing the colors, he could instantly capture the very eyes of mortal mens watching. And that very instant also, mortal man praised him silently.

Aincrad is the garden. The garden of everything remotely possible and infinite possibilities to match up to the owner of the garden itself. The man himself must be very proud of his own works, happily sharing to everyone the very vines and roots the garden grew out. Beautifully crafted to the finest detail and retaining on forever like immortals, is the perfect inscription of a diamond. Shining brightly and clearly to the eyes its beauty.

Unfortunately, the diamond isn't only possessing beauty. It possessed a much more original use before humans had set eyes on their kind. That property of them is the ability to cut through everything butter lucidly. Even better, it can cut through themselves, earning the title of the 'Sharpest' in the world history of elements.

And that is the very definition Aincrad works on. Sharp, hard, and brittle. Crumbling a little to crumble away others. Chipping away the lives of people one by one, slowly, gently, and peacefully. A machine that chips away the very soul of humanity. She, Aincrad, know nothing of human feelings. She wasn't taught how to feel this 'thing'. It is just scrupulous coding that the legendary man surnamed created to accommodate his 'playthings' so that he could just have fun with them.

Fun. Such a horrible desire to describe it, but yes. Just pure fun. Without any taint of greed, jealousy and money, but full of emptiness and vastness in it. As hollow as a cocoon, yet as beautiful as the silk covering it, it drew nothing but a fake sense of warmth and security momently for the mortals inside his world. They have to play his rules and die, and keep dying again so that he can feel the potent. No…that shouldn't be it. It should be **THEM** to feel how potent the system could be. Trying to live and dying in the process. Dwelling themselves to the Darwinist theory to live. They should feel how it is to be like to be inside that.

Simply implying, they should grow up. Stop being a coward and fight, so that they could free themselves from the relenting gardener. Fight for their own lives like warriors, as gallant as knights, as prideful as a hero. Live fearfully, cower cowardly yet die mercifully and chivalrously to motivate the weak. The strong will be consumed earlier, and the weak will turn into strong. The last strongest ones will consume the rule itself, and free everyone under its curse.

Just one thing in his list that completes the game is a helmet. Ridiculously drafted and named by him, it serves as the bullet. The bullet for Aincrad and SAO to work. And when time comes, the helmet will serve it purpose, doing the dirty work for him.

AN:

Sorry for the ridiculous start that everyone god damn knows already. I just started and my story plan is a little bit confused. But it would be something new. A POV very different to the current SAO category. Not just throwing in new teens trying to clear the story, but giving a little actual story for the antagonist and the protagonist later on.


	2. Chapter 2

AN:

Oh my god! Just posted and got a small review. I'm so happy now that I am going to write another part of the story soon! As the reply for AppleberryCooking, it would be unavoidable. There are some parts of the story that can't be modified but can be played around to the writer's wish. And yes, the unique skills will be as usual. Kirito and Heathcliff. But my point is… Kirito won't be very important figure in this story, though I swear that I will have to make scenes that involve him too. So let's get started, shall we? :D And I'll rush for the intro before slowing down.

7 November 2022

Sword Art Online. An error that was allowed to exist and should have never be able to be passed in the first place. All people regretted it, inside and outside. They should have been wary about the technology. Wary about how much harm it can give. Wary about how suspicious the device looks. Most of all, wary of Kayaba Akihiko.

They didn't. And because of it, that is why SAO is proceeding according to its plan smoothly without much pressure. In fact, there have been no pressures at all. Everything went too well according to how Kayaba Akihiko wanted it. He triumphed, almost mockingly disgraced the very name of his country, Japan, although he didn't seem to care about his own infamy invention.

Regrets were cursed once more again. There is no U-turn for such regret and you have to move on. Such an irony and pity of 'Aincrad'.

News flashed non-stop over the current situation of how SAO trapped people and how the police force tried to save them. It was in vain. NerveGear was a bullet. There was nothing that could stop the bullet from the gun that was pointed to them, the SAO players. There was nothing the police could do also. All they can ensure is provide a good intensive body care and a good internet connection, hoping for the players to break the game themselves. Kayaba had mentioned that with absolute clarity. Cruel, but fair. Soft, but fast. All the little problem was solved by the NerveGear itself. And such a feat was made by an absolutely mad scientist who wasn't only charismatic, but deceitful in his words.

Sure, there were a few records that could be accessed. Nevertheless, they hold no significant amount of information to be used at all. It is only information, repeating itself for each and every people, reaching infinite amounts of copies. However, while there is hope, it is just complete batshit crazy for someone who have a logic to accept it, moreover to try and do it like a fool.

The SAO still accepts logins till now. Moreover, it allows character creation also. It means that everything can be completely customized and created from scratch so that you can have an unrecognized appearance. But why is anonymity important when death is near?

Simple. Kayaba was taunting the government to send men inside and help them. He may have angered them, but there were no such fool to try and brute force the game with their own men. Their own men and far away too precious for their own uses instead. God forbid that they could get away without causing severe casualties too.

But, however impossible this world is, such people would still want to do it. And when they do it, there is no doubt you will get a feeling in your gut that tells you that they're going to .miserably. Even crazier, the particular mad man that will be talked is a prominent figure in the police squad.

His name is Gin Yagami, and his title stands as the most suicidal and effective police in his squad that has ever lived.


	3. Chapter 3

_Once, there was a little kid._

_That little kid dreamt about being a superhero to save everyone in distress. Then he trained every day. He kept on training and training and adapting to become how a superhero saving a damsel in distress. But what the reality offers different. He had to choose. Choosing between his loved ones and the whole world. Unable to let his dreams falter, he sacrificed his loved ones to leave the burden of becoming a superhero nearer._

_He kept on fighting, fighting and fighting. To restore peace and to deal hammer justice to the evil. But, after such a long adventure he experienced, he felt his dream is hollow and useless. He was forgotten by the people and his dramatic rescue declared as a lie. Eventually, he released that his dream gave nothing back to him in satisfication. No one praised him, remembered him, and try to attempt his path._

_He regretted it. Why didn't he try to be selfish and saved his own loved ones and let those random people die? Those people aren't worth anything in his heart. They are just collective pieces that make up the sum of the population in the earth. Why he chose them over the loved ones that he treasured consciously?_

* * *

Rin….Please don't try anything stupid at home.

**_Flashback_**

**_"_**_And that is today's case. Game over, villain." I declared with a wicked and devilish grin as a last attempt to scare the criminal off. Even though we are in a 1 km radius still._

_Indeed, that case was tough. It got me hooked up and serious for weeks to no end. First, I have to deal with that who-knows-what-happened situation. Graping the evidence from no suspects is as hard as trying to find a grain within bushels, with a plus that the killed is an antisocial. Then there is no DNA evidence at all, which is making shortcuts non-existent quickly. Finally, no one actually cared for if the victim died or what happened at the time the victim was diagnosed dead. That whole deal of idiocy was raised to the maximum like hell laughing over us…_

_But in the end, I was right. I knew that this situation means that one of the whole gang hates the victim. One of them has dealt already with the criminal. It was just by pure coincidence that one person under my hand had let off a casual remark that this whole gang smells like fish. Honestly, the whole gang gave off an impression of a fish market in the middle of an apartment. The floor was just damp, and the walls wet also, with cracks which makes up that it is already wet for such a long time that the walls start to cracking up._

_I don't know if this whole chance was given by god or something; I didn't take the word 'fishy' literally. As good habit as it had been, I was well trained in the verse of falsified speeches as well as body languages, even though the latter part makes no sense to what I said previously. _

_"Case closed." I smiled as I approached the criminal's room and barged in, capturing the lazy man which had yet to realize that he had been identified as a criminal and to be punished as soon as possible. He did gave off some resistance, including a little scuffled and a punch that was deflected mid-air and a kick that just tumbled the poor man down._

_"Why…I haven't done anything wrong!" The man's eye spun around crazily, trying to find a way to escape from us._

_"You don't. But you __**did**__." _

_"It wasn't I who did it! I didn't murder him!"_

_As same as always, those pathetically weak criminals are just weak in concealing the truth. If the criminals is all the same as this man, then we could have finished purging evil in the world in a month or two._

_"First, if normal people would ask what they did wrong first. Second, you answered that you killed him…well, in an inverted way."_

_"Sakata Kinryuu! IT was him who do it!?"_

_"What? Your accomplice?" Another bird within the stone's range. I never thought this one was so easy in dealing by just watching the body language of the criminal squirming around. _

_"Officer, this Kinryuu guy maybe suspicious. But don't let this guy go. Bring him to the police quarters for further interrogation."_

_That man yelled some words, but I didn't want to hear them. Most of them were just crude cursing and random insults from a person who wasn't able to properly deny himself to become one of the criminal deducted. Just as easy as how he picked the lock openly at the room to clean up the mess of the victim later when we came again. And there was __**NO**__ maid that he said, as no maids come later than the hiatus of once per week. _

_Shortly then, this Kiryuu guy that man mentioned was dragged up into a seat and questioned directly. By me, of course. _

_"How did you kill that guy?" he was able to smile after that. I know how that feels tough. There was two ways. Either he was thinking that this would be possible to shake his identity as a suspect off, he could also pose as a guy who given up his hopes and defending himself._

_"Sir. I did kill him. It had been a futile try to keep the mask like that. May I know how you did it?"_

_I laughed. That could be the most humorous remark made by one of the criminals I dealt every day. I should have just taped that record if not that I was in a hurry._

_"Simple. I observed. Everything is about that. I found that the guy residing here suspicious. I was planning to question him instead, and who knows that he made a slip in his tounge and mentioned you…"_

_"Tch. That stupid man. I told him not to hide the evidence."_

_"Oh? So you both really did it together. Great. That saves times for the interrogation. Officer, put him to the detention court. We'll determine later if he or his partner deserves a capital punishment."_

_"Y-you mean, death?"_

_I frowned. I thought this guy was brave enough to try death itself like it was nothing. Well, that was a nice try though. May this man be graced by god to live long enough in the process of the punishment itself. Amen._

_"Yes. You would be likely to be sentenced to death. Though if by magnificent intervening of god I don't find the body cut up and the organs missing."_

_"N-n-no, I don't want to die!" screamed he at his top of his lungs, suddenly jumping up and attacking me._

_"Whoops. You just earned a sure death penalty." These guys were just easy to deal. They have no formal education in martial arts and have no way to deal with one properly._

_His arm was caught with mine in mid air, and I applied a little force to permanently cripple the man's arm. Even though that would be illegal mostly because I applied a lethal martial art, my underlings are all loyal, if not never trying to harm me at all._

_The screams that he was dragged off was much more worse than the before. Like a pig screaming before slaughter came. Pigs might be less worse to be heard rather than this pig. 'I don't wanna die' because of this and that… just get off from here!_

_"Chief, the headquarters suddenly called. They say there is a need for sudden meeting."_

_"What? At this noon?" _

_This must be a serious case. Indeed, that time when murders totaled to 25 4 years before, almost including me, there was held a sudden meeting. It was hard then to try and catch that elusive guys. It was recently we caught him in pure rush of luck, and he was sent right on death sentence, no trials barred._

_This time also? How much people were killed? 20, 30 or just 15? I had no way for the statistics, but I already have something bad filling up my gut. A mass murder right at a hot noon, where police is the most active. This could be really bad, or even worse than before. _

_"What is it about?"_

_"Kayaba Akihiko. Mass murder. And possibility the largest amount of murder charged by only one man. Killing method… a device?"_

_"What is that device?"_

_"…..NerveGear…"_

_NerveGear… I thought I heard it somewhere before. Yes, I definitely read it somewhere before. What was it? A technology magazine right? What time was it? No, I can't remember when. The time span was just too long for me to remember that. Something to do about game….and brains…. A virtual reality?_

_Now what has a virtual reality got to do with a mass murder. Weird._

_"How?"_

_"Microwave. Instantly fries the brain within seconds. Vacuum created when trying to dismantle the NerveGear with the skull. "_

_"Ridiculous…. With just that device?"_

_The officer bit his lip. I don't know why. I am already very worried and slightly panic over the mass murder method this new murderer, Kayaba Akihiko just commit. It is surely bad…no, it is the WORST case in the years I worked already._

_"213 people died within 1 hour."_

_"No…."_

_I quickly phoned my home, hoping that my daughter, Rin would take up the phone instead. It was like years and months I waited for that phone in my own residence to be picked up and voiced by Rin. _

_No, it wasn't. Another girl's voice, but it isn't Rin. My heart sank a little bit, still hoping that Rin didn't use that device. _

_"No…she locked herself at her room. She haven't opened since 1 hour."_

_Damn…. Did she really used that device? That death device? No… It can't be. It must not be. She's still locked inside. Who knows that she is doing something inside instead. No, there is no way she used that device right?_

_"Officer, please tell them that I will be late."_

_"Understood." My side personality thought for a while that the officers thought I was in a panic. I don't care now. Rin won't do anything stupid, right? Anything but that goddamned NerveGear._

**Flashback End**

I knocked the door viciously, opened it and swiftly went to the room that Rin usually sleeps inside. It's locked. Some part of me told me that it is futile, telling me that Rin have used the gaming device. But I refused to it. Rin would never do such things such as doing something hidden from me at all. I don't believe that Rin could ever use the NerveGear.

I don't know how to describe it, but Rin is in a sort of way, trustful. She is not the child I met 5 years ago. She couldn't have used the NerveGear, couldn't she? Earned good grades, made good friends, and being nothing but a kid with good manners and a witty thought.

I either wanted to laugh or cry, what I saw was like stabbing my heart with a thousand knives. That device, that gray sphere, enclosed her head. What it could it be else?

It was just that murdering device, NerveGear.

AN:

I have no idea how the police structure works. I will try to play my own words accordingly.


	4. Chapter 4

_What's the time again?_ Gin glanced at his own watch. Sadly, there was no watch to look, so he don't know. Watch..where to find a clock? Ah, damn it. He wasn't not even familiar with the gaming term, but he remembered something. Opening the menu will help, right? But how? There wasn't a long click, or double click, or right click here. This WAS the virtual reality after all.

Right at the first day inside, he got problems even on the most basic one of usage. He didn't know what to say. There is only one way then. Ask someone to help him out. He was just reduced to an idiot inside games now. How epic.

"I'm sorry, but how do you open the menu…thing?" He asked a random man passing by him. And he was a little bit surprised to. His voice…. Was not the same? That explains how. But how come it was so high-pitched with no hoarse voice coming through? Oh. Whatever. He'll find that thing out later.

"Miss, are you by any chance, a complete newbie in gaming?"

_Yes I am. And miss…. What the heck!?_ He ran a panick glance over his own body, arms and legs. But the body would suffice him. Something round was sticking out on the chest, and he paled as white as a sheet.

He was officially a girl now in a game. Yes, he would be she.

"…_You will be using the character I made._"

_Damn you, John. You'll owe me a big explanation later._

"Ehehehe…. This is indeed my first game."

Oh how he hated the voice coming out his own throat.

That man's eyes widened, then calmed down again before saying something different.

"I think you can join us first. Since there are only minority of the population doing the actual fighting here. By the way, swipe the left index finger down"

_Wait. So MAJORITY of people inside SAO refused to clear the game?_

"What's your name, miss?"

_My name…_

He…no. She quickly looked at the menu by doing exactly what he said. Her name...Tera? Is that just a random word John thought up?

"Tera."

"Tera….my name is Thinker. Pleased to meet you." Thinker said that more into a business manner, glancing her with actual delight.

_One of those old tactics in business…._

"Y-y-yes…" She was forcing herself to stutter. It would be better for the public to know that she is more of the kind of sheltered and cutesy girl. When she thinks about it… she wants to puke it out. Yes. To act and behave as a girl.

_Great. I wasn't trained as an assassin. At least I can hold this for a while._

Then, a party box showed up.

**Yulier invited you to a Party. Will you accept?**

**O yes X No**

Tera clicked on the yes without hesitation. She knew what is the law of survival.

_To survive, associate yourself to anyone._

Then, there was two bars that showed up. One was Thinker, and another one was Yulier. Yulier? Did she met her before? No. Impossible. She just showed up in the game now. Why would she be able to recognize someone as an old pal?

"Just curious… Who's Yulier-san?"

Thinker replied without thinking, "She was an actual friend of mine. Also trapped inside the game too."

"I see. Well, shall we get to the basics now?" She raised her tone a little bit. Just a little bit. She wasn't really comfortable now. But it won't hurt the try.

"Yes…. Let's just go straight to the forest and I'll teach you most of the basics."

"Sword skills," Tera muttered, "Boost damage and speed?"

"Yes. And you actually need to use them to slay the Enemy inside the game. Even though you can use normal strikes, it won't reach a tenth of the damage and a thrice of the speed of a skill."

"For example," He readied his pose, grabbing his hilt on the sword and slanted down," This skill is called slant. It's speed, compared to not activating it…" He made another swing, but this time without the glow.

"Do you see how much the difference is there?"

"I see…" She haven't equipped her sword yet. So she have yet to get the clue of the whole thing.

"My bad. You can open the items menu and equip your sword and skills there."

He pointed to the gray menu Tera was not paying attention to. Gray boxes… and only 3. 2 of them are pure black, completely opaque.

"Sword skill should be here. Just tap it and click at the skill you want."

Tera quickly followed in suit, and she was then equipped with a sword, ready for bloodbath.

"Now, you should see, there is a sub skill also. This skill is called a one-handed sword. There are sub skills, which is the actual thing we use in combat. There are also certain requirements before you will be able to do one movement… sorry if I was explaining too long."

"N-no. Just fine for me to pick up!"

"There. You can try the Linear now."

Tera glanced around, and suddenly the instructions of a body, positioning and movement suddenly appear before her out of thin air. It did take her a while to scrutinize and watch carefully what it displayed. After she knew it, the movement guide disappeared into thin air also.

There was no need for Thinker to mention again. She readied herself at a forest, with passive monsters surrounding them, and aiming at a bear. Admit, Thinker was too much, bringing her to a much higher level than she should be. But he wanted to see if she is skillful or not.

**WHOOSH!**

Tera stroke the bear with a single shot, and it groaned a bit. Then, it shattered to pieces, with another box coming up.

**Congratulations!**

**Exp:2000**

**LEVEL UP! You are now Level 2!**

**Items Gained: Bear Fur**

**You have mastered 100 of One handed Sword!**

**OTHER POV**

Amazing…her speed was absolutely ridiculous. He couldn't even see clearly where she stabbed at the bear before disappearing.

"Thinker-san, what are you gaping at?" He suddenly forgot what he was doing at while focusing at her.

"Nothing! Well, that was excellent. You managed to take a bear down even in full health."

Then, an annoying pop up came, noticing him that another message was appearing. Yulier-san… do she have to bother the teaching so much? He'd done it to the newbies 2-3 times, and no one died. Yet, Yulier was still angry for him for causing a newbie almost die, losing a good nine tenth of the bar.

"Enough, Thinker. You could kill the newbie at the spot." Was all written in the letter. Kill the newbie? More like the newbie could kill him.

"Is it Yulier-san?"

"Yeah. She thinks that I am trying to kill you." Tera chuckled over that fact. He couldn't help but also chuckle also.

"Well, we'll try to level you up for few. Maybe then you can be able to fight yourself." He said.

Tera frowned, her temples creasing a bit. He glanced at her, and saw. Indeed, she was a beauty. Her eyes were brown, not completely black. Her hair was the same. The most striking features were, her chin and lips. They were very excellently shaped. Plus her nose just sums up the whole face she made.

"Does that mean that I will have to part ways soon?"

This beauty is too seducing…no. She's just 15…or 16. She couldn't be smart enough to seduce someone, right? She was not even willing to come too close to her. All she did was give a little, if any, distance to him.

Darn it. He fell for her. Really, this game could be just called a 'dating game' instead.

"Depends."

She wasn't satisfied with it. But then, her sudden emotion change and her face brightening up is unexpected.

"Then let's go hunt!"

_Yulier will be scolding me for flirting with younger girls again. Ah… such a mess._

"I see. You have caught my pace." Yulier growled. He could feel some unpleasant aura radiating from Yulier. She was furious again. Furious for Thinker not taking this game too seriously liker her, teaching the newbies instead to be stronger.

"Yulier, this is Tera. Tera, this is Yulier." He broke the aura quickly…not wanting a scolding right there and then.

"So, this is Yulier-san? It is a pleasure to meet you." She said, with all the formality at a minimum.

"Pleasure to meet you." Yulier had this handsake for at least 5 times already. Likewise, she was training other newbies. But she avoided them if possible, instead of Thinker, helping everyone that looks distressed and overwhelmed at the game, good or not.

Then, she complimented also in her heart, like any other woman would be, seeing Tera in her perfect body.

Tera, however, doesn't seem to notice that everyone was glancing at her body shape. It was magnificent, enchanting and deadly, if she knew how to manipulate it correctly. She was still annoyed that a specific someone had tried to talk with her, bar Thinker.

They were in a café. It was simple though, since this is still the 1st floor of the game. And it only supplied some food which are actually good when it looked simple.

"Food? I thought this was just a game, right?"

"Unfortunately, Tera, we could survive without eating. But again, tricking your body into believing that you ate something is better." Yulier shifted his arm to the tables, supporting her head.

"Why?" Tera asked, a light of curiousity lit up in her eyes.

"Certain somebody almost died of starvation in a battle."

"Oh…" She just accept that fact casually, questioning no more.

_Asuna…_ Yulier and Thinker whispered in their heart. They saw Asuna go on a killing spree without eating at all. They could only hope that no one would repeat the stupidity like her, discovering that food was necessary for survival, even inside the game.

_But then… her presence is just strange…._

Thinker told her. She was told that this girl just appeared out of nowhere and calmly accepts this as a game of death. Her eyes scanned every part of her body to try and make sure if her body languages tells her something.

None. Her body languages seems to convincing. Far too convincing. Yulier had to be careful about this girl. Apparently, she was able to cast a very convincing aura around her and very careful about her movements and her speech. She even paid detail in placing her hands in the correct-

Clank. The food arrived just in time to interrupt that train of thought. She glanced at Thinker, apparently forgot what he was doing here and stared at the food uninterestedly.

_This… could take a while. _Really, does she even need to pay so much on the mysterious girl that she just met a few minutes?

She had taken interest her. This girl could really get very nasty if she had to. But…. Time to eat. She's starving already for a day, and wasted no time digging in at the very food on her line of sight.

**POV**

Dizzy headache and blurry.

Tera was trying her damnest to stay alive and bright at the conversation earlier. She couldn't think anything about what the hell they are talking and what glances they threw at her. And when the foods come, she just did the same to what Yulier was doing, and promptly excused her to stay in quietly at an inn.

_Was this the effect of using a body not same as to the real body?_

She lied down, too hurt to think anything more. Her heads where banging to each other like metal and iron. And she was sweating profusely. At least, virtually, since SAO doesn't emulate sweat unless in a battle.

Her status seemed to be normal, just how Thinker was saying previously at the status effects. Then again, if she is really sick, there should be an unknown sickness status floating around her HUD. Why it doesn't appear that there is one?

Mental confusion of height? That sounds a very good reason to have someone hammer the sense out of your head. Especially when somebody isn't actually nailing you down and the fact that you can get fried anytime inside the device within every hour. IT was painful to a certain extent, but only to a certain extent.

She could not resist the pain anymore. She just allowed the pain to slowly mold and knock her brains out in the process. Trying to scream in pain just sounded ridiculous. Smiling to everyone and listening to everyone's thoughts and talks were out from the option. Walking and dancing around just seemed good enough with the energy she spent after that. And….hunting midnight? A very good excuse to get killed without been known.

It's too much for her to resist anything that comes at her now, with an exception of the very encouraging and warming sight of a pillow and a blanket to sleep in. Strangely, she didn't feel the need to sleep at all. Too dizzy to have one though.

It was then suddenly everything whited out for her.

An:

Damn. My writing sucks inside a computer. And this is not proof readed, so excuse me for my mistakes. I might later just jot down the writings instead of typing.


End file.
